Author's note: For those of you who've been following this for a while now and saw my note in chapter 3, this section is new/revised - "newly revised." In short, it's the same idea as the first part of the old chapter one, just revised/rewritten and made into its own section. Thus, the "prologue" of The Perfect Gentleman was bored.
For those of you who just clicked on this story, I am in the process of revising/editing chapters 1 - 2 and will keep you posted as far as the revision process goes when I update future chapters.
For both new and old readers, I hope you enjoy~
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
-Originally written with The Secret Sal in mind-
In the majority of cultures around the world, a child is legally considered to be an adult at the age of eighteen though I would go as far as to argue that not every household across the world abides by this statement. For many teenagers, adulthood and independence are interchangeable, and independence is directly related to receiving one's driver's license. To others, adulthood is reached at the age of twenty-one when one can legally gamble, purchase lottery tickets and consume alcohol.
It is my understanding, however, that parents are the deciding authority on such a matter, and in my household, the age of adulthood was thirteen.
"Itachi," my father casually stated over a hot cup of coffee one chilly morning in November, "I think you've reached the age where your body is starting to undergo some changes. And by that I mean you'll start to see hair growing in places where it didn't previously grow, your voice becoming deeper, you'll grow taller and develop more muscle tone, and you'll start to take notice in the girls in your class who are also undergoing changes in their own bodies."
"You're talking about puberty, right?" I answered, uninterested in a lecture concerning something that I had learned about every year since the fourth grade.
My father nodded. "That is correct. And as I was saying, you'll start to take an interest in women. But let me tell you, falling in love is not a game like so many of your peers seem to think of it as. When you fall in love with somebody, you're committing yourself to them, something that someone of your age cannot fully comprehend yet." He said. "But I'm telling you all of this so that when the time comes for you to court the woman who will eventually become your wife, you will treat the matter with appropriate level of seriousness that it deserves."
At the time, I remember searching his features, looking for some indicator as to why something I was apparently incapable of understanding until I was older applied to me now at the age of twelve. At that point in my life, girls and falling in love where nowhere on my radar which largely consisted of reading the most novels in my grade, playing video games in my cousin Shisui's basement, and teasing Sasuke about our various "grown-up kid" escapades.
"I realize that a young lady may catch your interest before you are mature enough to enter into a relationship and I understand that I may not be able to divert it until that day comes. Therefore, I caution you not to fall in love with a woman based on looks alone. When falling in love, you must look for a woman who has morals, values, goals, and ambitions. She must be respectful of her family, her heritage, her culture, and must possess respect for herself as well. I will not approve of one of those indecent sluts who think it's appropriate to wear mini-skirts in the dead of winter. Find a woman as classy as yourself who will be worthy of our family name." He advised me. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, father." I said even though I didn't. I simply said whatever would appease my father for the time being so we could sweep this conversation under the rug and forget that it had ever happened.
I would later learn that such a notion was just a pipe dream as he continued to intertwine these words of wisdom into every conversation he could. "That's my boy. Straight A's as always." He said after glancing down his nose at my report card. "When you fall in love, don't settle for second best. Whoever she is should possess the same intellectual capacity as you do who can provide stimulating conversation. Otherwise, you will end up bored and unhappy."
"Yes, father."
"In addition to that, you must find a woman who is certain of her path in life and has well defined career goals. Graduating from high school at the top of her class and earning a full scholarship to one of the top colleges in the country doesn't mean a thing if she doesn't know what she wants in life." He said. "Indecisiveness is not the mark of an Uchiha woman."
Says the man whose wife spends ten minutes at the supermarket debating which flavors of Greek yogurt she wants to try, I remember thinking to myself at the time.
"Your father's views are very traditional." Said my mother while folding laundry one day. "Yes, it's important that you pursue a young lady who places more value on a college degree and a successful career instead of premarital sex, relationships aren't and shouldn't be one-sided, Itachi. Falling in love isn't solely about finding a woman who satisfies your father's high expectations of the perfect wife for you – it's finding someone who makes your heart race, fills your stomach with butterflies, and causes you how to speak in coherent sentences." She smiled, speaking from experience. My mother was eight and a half months pregnant when she received her college diploma and gave birth to me seven days after her twenty-second birthday. "Conversely, it is important that you evoke the same feelings in her as well."
"Yes mother." I agreed in hopes that she would drop the subject.
"Don't worry. You'll know she's the one when the time is right." She winked.
And from that day on, for the next nine years my father would share with me the characteristics that comprised the perfect woman worthy of our family name while my mother instructed me on how to behave like the perfect gentleman worthy of upholding that very name.
I hope you enjoyed the revisions if you're an old reader, and I hope you enjoyed the prologue if you're a new one~
Until next time!
Sasori33-001
